Jame's Brother the Ward Master
by battle manga
Summary: James Potter had a brother. A Brother that left long ago for adventure. A Brother that hated him with every fiber of his being. But now he is back as a favor to our favorite greasy git. This is a one maybe two shot featuring a bit of Harry bashing and a little ashing of the golden trio. Starts about the middle of book three.


I began today like I began most days. Grabbing some breakfast before going to the office to do some paperwork. In my car, I would either play some music or listen to a fan fiction. Don't EVER tell my subordinates that. It would be a travesty if they knew I confiscated their manga to read it myself.

I will forever be grateful to the old man for making me learn Japanese. I could read the most interesting things in the world right from the source. Even if I was in Italy. Best of all No more subbed Anime. After a few hours of paperwork, I handed out missions got back mission reports. Finally, I would be able to do some training with my division before going home or to my bed in the castle.

Well, I say castle but it was far more modern on the inside than on the outside.

I was part of a group of highly trained curse breakers, warders, and Monster Hunters. All rolled up into one bad ass team. We have formally Contracted by governments, businessmen, or planets. Any decent supervillain or government had at least one of our Wards in place and our castle had wall to wall fur rugs, from all the monsters we faced.

Just last week we had to take out a nest of basilisks when some insane megalomaniac wanted to start breeding them then got himself eaten. They escaped and decimated a small town before we could contain them.

But alas today was not going to go well. For a dull gray owl was sitting on my desk. I would have flamed it but I saw the symbol on the letter and could no longer plead ignorance. "Curse you, Severus."

…. … …

Leaky Cauldron.

I walked into the dingy tavern overlooking most of Diagonally. It felt like a lifetime ago since I came here with my parents to get my new wand and school supplies. Of course, even back then I was not on the best terms with my parents and hostile terms with my brother. It was a miracle I could get my wand at all with him stomping about like a classic English prat.

I palmed my old willow and dragon heartstring wand. A rather odd combination since the Willow was supposed to be calming and from a particular week willow, while the heart string was the only heartstring they could take off a rather ferocious hybrid dragon that killed dozens of wizards. All the other wands containing the heart tended to explode.

Most of the denizens of the pub blatantly stared at me as I walked in. But I gave them no mind. They were beneath my notice. As far as I was concerned they might as well be furniture.

Not that unusual considering I took after Skull-sama in the looks department. My hair was long and black with purple and Orange streaks on my back. The sides of my head up to an inch above my ears was shaven off or short. I had subtle purple and red eyeliner as well as purple lips. My fingernails painted in sharp purple, red, yellow and even green.

My clothes were not leather but looked close to it. While leather might look nice I preferred more breathable materials. It was instead cut and magic resistant fabric that I wore anytime I was not relaxing. Combat boots with purple laces and a pair of purple and white pants finished off my ensemble. I would normally wear a kilt but not in this stormy weather.

I looked over the spooked tavern and spotted my target sipping something far away to a table full of loud screaming redheads. Most looking very surprised and fearful to see him.

I walked over to his table and smirked down at the man drinking his tea. "Why on god's green earth did you want to meet in this dirt pub, I think I can still see that spot serious black pissed in years ago?" I said to Severus Snape as he lifted his glass and passed one to me.

"Ah, Charming as always, I would ask if you kiss your mother with that mouth but something tells me that mouth doesn't even see that much action." He said before Bro hugging me. The gaggle of redheads nearly blew their eyes out of their skulls at seeing their batty potions professor willingly touch anyone.

Did they forget he was only in his early thirties?

"So, Severus what brings you here? It's got to be big for you to contact me of all people." Said Deric to the demure potions master. Severus would not call him unless it was his last resort.

"As much as it pains me to admit I now work for Dumbledore. As such he has asked me to try anything and everything to keep the castle safe from one Serious Black. With an avid hatred of the man, yourself I thought bringing you in to look over the castle's warding's would help." Severus tossed a paper onto the table showing a screaming Serious Black. His eyes were beady and it looked like he had not bathed in days. It warmed my heart to see him is such misery.

With a small tug on my lips, I looked the paper over. Not much changed in the magical communities, well the old ones anyway. I much preferred the Italian and American Suburban Witches to the countryside hicks they had here. Severus being the exception of course.

"Fine, but let it be clear that the slate is now clean and I owe you nothing. Dumbledore might even owe me for this considering the scope of work. Anything else I should be made aware of?" I asked the man who took a strong sip of his cup.

"While It seems hardly worth mentioning, the headmaster believes the Black will try and make a run for Harry Potter for 'killing' his master." He explained. Noticing how my neutral look turns into a scowl at the mention of the boy.

"Is he just as bad as that useless carcass called James Potter or a half genius half stupid all trouble type like Lily Evens." Severus did not like me badmouthing lily but he was used to it by now. We had come to an agreement. He didn't get uppity when I cursed and badmouthed people while I warded his room. Win-Win.

"He is as brash as his father if not as cruel. Any genius that boy has ever displayed was either far out of my ears or directed by his Friend Granger. A penitent for looking for mischief as well. I don't like him."

"I guess that's fine, I don't even know him and I already hate him."

"That is fair, I would recommend not having an extensive meeting with him. With how much he looks like James, I suspect you will have a grim time in restraining your desire to destroy him. If you restrained yourself at all."

"I can restrain myself but I rather not have to. Now let's go see this ward stone of yours. Hopefully, this will only take a day or two." We hopped into the nearest Floo and whooshed away. Leaving a very confused bar behind. Most people got up after that and said 'merry Chrismas' to the tender and went home. Because if Severus Snape willingly talked with someone like an old friend then they were clearly too drunk to keep drinking.

…..

Deric walked down the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Using his magic to warm up and burn some caffeine. He had Severus show him the wardroom already and would have Dumbledore come over latter so he could tell him the plan. It was closer to the middle of the school year and serious black had already been seen twice, so it was imperative the students be kept safe.

Deric drew a long Sip of his tea. He loved the Asian blends, after returning to the wardroom.

He looked at the ward stone and began to take notes on a normal notebook. Most ward stones were already complicated to make and few had the knowledge to do it. Older ward stones were harder as you needed to consider other wards already in place. Trying to keep them all on track was a complex art. You might get an internal combustion ward and then must work around it or erase it so that you don't counteract it using an external air compression bubble.

Then you have Hogwarts. It is a school so it does not exactly have the money to buy a new ward stone very century let alone a decade. So, the wards were not only Old but put on Substandard materials to save money.

It was rather irritating. The last person that updated the Rune stones were so unbelievably incompetent that it was no wonder the school was unsafe. Did they hire Bugs Bunny to update these things?

A knock at the door sounded and I waved my hand to open it. Another loophole dammit! I grumble in irritation as words and runes floated around me, tony stark style.

Dumbledore and Severus, as well as Mrs. Senestra the new runes teacher, came in to get an update. I had a book in hand making notes with my pen as well as an irritated look. I must look like a dame fright. Except they hung out with Blood Bat all day so they were probably used to paler more vampire like personalities. However, they were still amazed at all the runes flying around the runestone. Projected out so that I could see the minor parts better.

Pausing the visuals and closing my notes I puff out a breath as they walk in. I shielded my mind just in case the headmaster got any ideas.

"Well, whoever updated this last time was either incompetent or trying to sabotage you," I said as I opened my defect notes. Raising an eyebrow Dumbledore asked, "What makes you say that my boy?"

"First please use Mr. Boy. Second, there are a dozen loopholes that could be exploited and numerous flaws in the security." I conjure a high table and start using my hologram spells to show them what I found.

"The last time this Ward stone was replaced must have been at least 1760. Not a bad time to get one as the quality of the stones were good and the price cheap. The first runes were geared towards protection from enemy wizards and dangerous creatures as the forest was just starting to get more dangerous. Then forty years pass with a decent amount of maintenance consisting of making sure the recharging mechanisms were still functional.

Then in 1800, some idiot got the bright idea of adding onwards that hampered the original purposes and edicts. They concentrated on Muggle-Repelling to an astonishing degree as well as creating a dozen security measured." With each explanation, he showed them the additions made. "They also included a subnet that would repulse acrumantula but overpowered it as well as miss configured it. This caused a problem with the original Ward Runes that would have repelled any of the Dread Spiders anyway." I waved my hands in a bit of an exaggeration. "While this did help repel them farther into the forest it caused several other side effects such as weakening the wards against other invasive species and would not work on the small spiders at all. They would just scurry right into the castle until they were bigger and would feel a pull to leave just as they got to venomous for children." I paused to let the gravity of the situation sink in.

"Not to mention the weakening of the wards against dementors, boggarts, and other such dark creatures are barely there at all.

At this point, they did look rather troubled. Senestra asked, "You can ward the school against Dementors?"

"Yes, it was a standard ward a few centuries back and was improved upon a could years back in Japan. However, the ministry hushed it up so that they could keep using the Dementors as a viable threat. There is a reason Europe is the only country that fears them. However, that ward was severely underpowered and then erased to make room for the more useless Muggle-Repelling ward." I pointed out a set of Familiar runes to her that showed how much power was being pushed into it.

"I suspect that headmaster of the time was so fearful of muggles he tried to configure the thing himself but did not have the professional knowledge to do it. More than likely only taking one university course on the subject and deeming himself a master. Also, there could have been an infestation at that time but all he would really have had to so was just reroute power from the light system for a day or two and all the bugs would have been dead rather than scattered."

Showing them more lines and specifically to the runes teacher, he enveloped another part if the room in writings. There were dozens of little features that Dumbledore had never even come across.

"The most concerning aspect is the exploitable loopholes. Here you can see that several individuals are already using the wards to monitor the students. I don't know who they are or what they are doing with this information but I assume it cannot be good." Now becoming more than a little disinterested he allowed them to look at the work. Such a breach in security would be very bad indeed. The pureblood circuits would have a field day if they ever learned someone was monitoring their Children.

Albuse and Severus only had a cursory understanding of ward runes but the Runes professor could understand what he meant. Even if this was outside the scope of what she could do, it was still easy to discern what he meant and where he meant it. Like being told by your mechanic what your car can do even if you don't see the details.

"This is most troubling news. It would also explain the strangely often occurrence of magical creatures making their way into the castle. Trolls, basilisks, Dementors, frankfurters, Wukspurts and more. Alas is there any way to fix it without the use of a new ward stone? They are quite expensive and I don't think we have the budget for them just yet." Albus admitted since the board of governors who handled their money had been steadily decreasing their budget as of late.

"Basilisk? Troll? Dementors?" Whirling on Snape Deric raised an eyebrow. The smirk on his face betraying the delight at hearing of such creatures. Hey, he liked Dark creatures so sue him.

"Yes, Troll brought in by a possessed professor. The Basilisk was petrifying students for a year till Junior Potter Slew him and the dementors are currently patrolling the grounds in search of serious Black." Said Severus, keeping up his mask in front of Dumbledore.

Shaking his head Deric said "That is both amazing and objectively terrifying. If you still have the corpses then the creature department should be able to sell you a new ward stone at a nice discount. If it's the fabled Basilisk from the chamber then you can buy two from the one corps. But only deal with the live creature department, not the ingredients department. Otherwise, you won't get the best price." He points to Snape so he could get things ready.

"In the meantime, I can jury-rig a double ward stone to keep the place warded and erase any breaks and loopholes. It will take a few weeks but this time next month you should be the most well-defended place in Britain. I'd say the world but I have a few houses." Dumbledore turned to Mrs. Sonestra to get a verification.

For a few minutes, she just watched all the warding with intensity. It was rather comical to watch as some of her expressions turned from curiosity, some horror, amusement, and wonder. Deric shared a bowl of popcorn with Snape in the fascination of the woman.

After what seemed like fifteen minutes she turned around and asked "Headmaster, you said Professor Snape was just bringing us a Warder. I didn't know you were going to be bringing in a master of the arts." She asked with all the crazy look Deric knew well.

"Mr. Deric Hunter." Deric introduced himself. Sonesta's eyes nearly bugging out of sheer fan gazme.

"The Deric Hunter, AKA Clockwork the ward Smith? The Ghoul of Varna? The man who broke King Ra's tomb? The man who claimed the Hammer of the Aztecs?" Now even Snape looked confused.

Smirking Deric conjured a steel black hammer. It pulsed and pulled with energy and drew everyone's eye. Lifting it up he handed the Women the Hammer and "SHHHEEEEEE." She screamed in delight.

"Yeah, it's the same hammer I made many of my discoveries with." He said as the women looked delighted for a moment before trying to lift the hammer. Naturally, she could not. Mostly since the thing weighed in at 450 kilos.

"I am now confused. And I do not say that often." Said Dumbledore turning towards his potions professor to see what was going on.

"Well despite being as hard to find as a smile on Sev's face I am in fact rather famous in some circles. The international warding circuit for one."

"Ha, famous he said, you were Offred the hand of a princess for Merlin's sake. And you turned it down!" Senestra countered as she once more tried to lift the hammer in vain.

"That was a political marriage and I will not be tied down by any country or creed. Besides she was a total harpy and the mere sound of her voice made me want to jam something down that gullet. Don't believe everything you read, especially if it's from an old book. Those are the worst traps." He waved his hand and the hammer disappeared. He went back to the table and began to rearrange his papers.

"Look I would rather not spend any more time in the magical community then I have to. I can ward the dame thing up for at least a decade but after that, your ward stone will start to disintegrate so have one in before then." Deric closed the graphic representations and then cast a quick spell from his want to illuminate the room.

"Very well, since you will be seen a few times around the castle I would like to invite you to Lunch this evening in the great hall. I can introduce you to the students and the other professors." Said Albus, he would have tried to lay down some charm but this man felt far too independent to react well to someone trying to manipulate him in any way. While Albus enjoyed his little Manipulations he was not going to cross someone that knew what they were doing.

"Before you agree." Spoke Severus his face scrunching up in distaste as he looked away from his 'friend?' "I would like to warn you that the Wolf mongrel will be there as well, in the position of Defense against the Dark arts. You may also see The Younger Potter Brat there was well."

"That Spineless Twit is teaching defense against the dark arts? Let me guess, his classes are very creature heavy? Fine, I'll be sure to ignore him." Smirking at Albus and Snape he said, "Let's make it a surprise and not tell him I'm here until lunch then?"

"agreed." Said sec and Albus. Albus had no idea what was going on but he just loved Messing with people.

"I am confused, do you have something against Mr. Potter?" Asked Senestra. Shure the kid was a bit dull compared to his celebrity image and maybe not the sharpest wand on the rack but he wasn't evil or anything. Winy perhaps.

"My birth name was Deric Potter." He Said as he collected his files and deactivated any spells around.

"What?" Asked Senestra as she took a good look at the tall strangely dressed man. "You look nothing like him. I saw him a few times at school but you really look nothing like him."

"I'll take that as the mighty complement it is. I hate my deceased brother with a passion and anything that reminds me of him. He was a jealous little prat that tried to make my life hell. However, I cut myself from the family, striking my name rejecting my blood. Giving them no control over me. Magic permitting, most people even forgot I existed. Which worked out very well for me." He explained.

"Well, that does explain why my memory of you is rather foggy." Said Dumbledore. What no one else mentioned was that it was most likely all that sugar.

…. ….. ….

Dumbledore sat up from his chair and walked up to the ornate wooden podium at the front of the Dias. The hall instantly turned quiet as he stood in from of the Podium. 'Ah, it was one power that he really enjoyed then it was being able to silence a room with a few coughs'. "As of two weeks ago Serious Black attacked The Gryffindor Common room door, and our defenses held and he was unable to get in. However, the fact he could get in so far was worrying me. So, I asked my potions professor if he knew any measures we could take to secure the school. And since he clearly loves you all so very much," the hall deadpanned at their headmaster and even the teachers all had a 'are you mad?' look on their faces. "He has generously called on an old favor to get a highly skilled Ward Smith to upgrade our wards. So you will be seeing him around the castle. After many, many discussions Professor Sinestra was able to Bagger the poor man into giving a few basic warding lessons to the Newt classes." At this, the Runes professor looked away, a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"So without further ado allow me to introduce to you, Deric Hunter." At this Deric Sat up from his chair and waved to the audience. The room as rather quiet except for Albus Clapping away like a madman. Lupin was sitting with his eyes so wide they may as well have popped out of his head. A manic grin spread over Deric's face, which might have scared the kiddies as he still had on his makeup, purple hair and leather clothes.

Sitting down in the chair next to Severus, I held out my Fist and watch the Room go wide-eyed again as he fists bumped it.

"Mr. Hunter will be with us for a few short weeks while the Ward stone of the school is being upgraded. While he is not a professor of this school I would still urge all student to show him the same level of respect as any of your professors, or at the very least as much as Professor Snape. I'm looking at you Forge and Gred!" With that whispers and snaps could be heard everywhere in the great hall.

"It's good to see you again Deric, it has been a long time." Said, Minerva McGonigal, after she got over the shock and realized that he was, in fact, one of her old students. She did not know much about the man now before her, other than he was the little brother to James Potter but even that was hazy.

"Longer for me then many of you I'd wager." He said while picking at a roasted chicken. "Sev, why are your snakes looking like floundering fish? I thought they were supposed to be the house of cunning or something like that?"

"Some of them are some of them aren't. You can rest assured that a few of mine will come crawling in for some answers."

"And with that, I will be bunking on the Hufflepuff side of Hogwarts. At least they will be too scared to badger me." Deric Smirked at his little pun.

"Hey, don't sell my Badgers short or their ability to badger. More Aurors come out of my house then all the others combined." Said the Herbology professor.

"I was here for two years before leaving so cut me some slack. It's not like I can remember what each house was known for anyway. Besides, don't you have more people in your house than any other two combined? You would have more by sheer statistical probability if nothing else." He shot back with little venom. Since they were all used to Snape they took his own words in stride.

"Why did you leave? As I remember you were here one moment and then gone the next.' Said the Charm professor. Flitwick had only started out as a professor in his second year so he still had not spoken to the man much. From what he remembered the Half goblin was a happy little professor that had a kind nature about him that made his classes easier.

"My family was a deplorable bunch of degenerates that I could care less for then the dirt beneath my feet. So I left the family all together and started my own line. Went out into the world and made my own name. Took a lot of work, and lost more blood then more people are comfortable with losing. I worked hard at my new job and learned far more than I would have stuck with school. I managed to win an Apprenticeship with Shakazoolu the immortal Monster hunter. The warding, however, was all me. "I tied the chicken but found it extremely greasy and reached for some apples and bread instead.

"My word, what could your family have possibly done to make you want to completely cut yourself from them?" Asked Flickwick. Not notating Severus's nervous cancelation motion towards his neck until it was too late. Deric grimaced and looked behind him.

"Cut it out Sev, I am not some Petulant Twelve-year-old who lashes out at people for the smallest infractions. Nor and I opposed to talking about it. However professor that is not a conversation that should be shared a the dinner table, Perhaps over some tea or better yet some of the drinks I came across in my travels. Nothing alcoholic but still stimulating." He offered the smaller man. Flitwick jumped for joy and accepted after he calmed down.

The rest of the dinner was covered by Severus and Deric discussing the possibility of an anti-magic ward in certain sections of the school.

While they were talking the other teachers were rather shocked that Snape said more than a dozen words during the whole conversation, the whole room was aghast with gossip.

… …. ….

A week later.

Deric potter was adding a few more inscriptions onto his rune stone. It was a trying week of dogging the questions of Slytherins and realizing that Hufflepuff's were not so bad. The day was actually going rather smoothly when the door to the wardroom burst open and a familiar boy came barging in, paper in hand and shouted, "Where have you been?" He shouted but was quickly cut short when he was blasted back through the open door and into a wall.

Ignoring the outburst Deric went right back to work.

Fifteen minutes later when Harry's Friends Scraped him off the side of the wall Professor Snape walked around the corner to see them all huddling up and trying to drag the Boy-who-lived out of the Secret and Restricted area of the Dungeon.

"And What Pray tell are you three doing down here in a SECRET and RESTRICTED area of the castle?" Snape gave the most dangerous sneer he could at them. Did these dunderheads ever think what could have happened to them down here?

"We were just looking for Deric Potter Sir." Hermione Granger intoned. "But as soon as Harry walked into the Room he was Blasted out." She said in an outraged voice.

"First you will address him either as Mr. Hunter or Clockwork, Five points from Gryffindor and I don't even know where you got the information that he was a potter. Second, you are trespassing onto valuable and dangerous parts of a restricted section of the Dungeon. Twenty points from Gryffindor Each." He paused for a second as watched the indignation on their faces. "Thirdly, you tried to Barge into a Room containing not only some of the most Dangerous magic in Hogwarts but also a Room dedicated to its Protection. Mr. Potter was Blasted out since the wards deemed him a threat. Thirty points each for endangering the lives of ALL your fellow students. Now get Mr. Potter to the hospital wing. I am sure that Madam Pomphrey now has a bead prepared just for him."

Snape shook his head at the stupidity of dunderheads. He conjured a pen and paper and then sent them off to Pomfrey. Walking away at the stunned look on the two faces. Well one stunned look, Weasley always looked like he did not know what was going on.

Knocking on the door he was quickly let in by Deric. "So, I'm guessing buy your smirk someone lost some house points." He smiled at his Friend. "I wonder if they will ever realize those things don't really matter. The Hufflepuff's found that out like two decades ago and have not won a cup since However, the tradeoff is they got sneakier about misbehaving. I already had like five groups of Hufflepuff's and two snakes come in here and ask questions." He poured some Aloe into a glass and took a tentative sip before nodding in satisfaction.

"Mr. Potter was in that case not part of that few so cunning as to knock." Said Snape derisively.

"Yup barged in hear and set off the precautionary wards. The way that kid was going he would have accidentally Blow the school sky high If I was a lesser mage that is." And Deric was never a lesser mage.

"True, did not know that about the baggers thought. That would explain some things. Anyway, you wanted to speak to me about something?" Severus conjured up a chair.

"Yah, as I figure it only one person would set off Abuse's to the point he got off his ass and do something. Well, I'm guessing that person might make an appearance or come back and if so can you pass on a message?"

'I don't see why not, provided he is still sane. And not dead." Severus should have been disturbed by what direction this conversation was going.

"Oh good, well just tell him we have the same deal as last time. He can have Britain, if he leaves the rest of the world to me. Specifically, Italy and France. AHAH." Shouted Deric as he jammed his wand at a section of the ward.

"What is it?"

"I just got rid of that pesky Observation ward. It was rather difficult to move, now no one can use anything to observe this school or its denizens ever again. Well except the headmaster and that's only since I got carried away on that. You may want to go with him when he next goes into his office."

"Very well." They clicked glasses and reminisced about some of the good old days, as few as they were.

An hour latter Sev and Albus would walk into his office to find a huge, expandable table with a holographic screen that held all the people in Hogwarts as well as all passages and entrances, even who would be in danger or sick. Already they could see the signs of nasty magical cold beginning.

…. ….

Hospital wing.

Harry Potter awoke with a start. He tried to sit up but his head was beginning to pound. "Don't move yet Potter, you still have a rather severe concussion and won't be getting out of bed today." Madam Pomfrey said from across the room.

Harry sat up anyway and stared. He was confused by how he got here in the first place. "Mate I don't think you should be getting up, that was quite a tumble. Said Ron weaselly. He had a small plate of sandwiches and chocolate, taking small bites as his own jaw hurt after Harry nocked into him.

"If even Ron is sating you should stay in bed then your really should Harry," Hermione said. She then went off on a tangent about what could happen if he didn't.

"Ok, ok Miony, I'll stay, how did I even get here anyway? The last thing I remember was the morning breakfast." Harry layed back down and rubbed his head. Carefully not to scratch his scar.

"What do you remember?" asked Hermione in a concerned tone.

"First, we went to the feast, then this new guy was introduced. Then we came back to the common room. We started to talk about the new guy. Miony practically had a crush on the guy." Hermione blushed at that. "Then Shamus Came in and said that we should stay away from him. Something about him being evil or something. In concern, we looked him up on the Map and then …. ….." Anger flooded harry in full force as he remembers the name he was on the map.

'Deric Hunter, Nee Potter." A Brother, His father had a brother and had abandoned him to go live with the Dusleas! He could have had a normal life all this time if This Deric had bothered to take care of him like family. Or he could have just shown up every now and then and maybe the Dursleys would have been forced to treat him better.

"That Git." Shouted Harry as his rage overtook him again. The only thing stopping him from rushing back to the dungeons was the madam Pomfrys quick binding spell.

"Calm down Harry." Shouted Hermione. "we are in enough trouble without you going and assaulting your uncle."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked with suspicion.

Hermione was about to respond when the doors to the Hospital wing opened to admit Dumbledore, McGonigal, and Snape. All of them looked rather sour but McGonigal looked positively furious.

They stopped in front of Harry's bed "Good to see you awake my boy. We were worried for a moment you might have sustained serious damage."

Madam Pomfrey walked up and said 'No, headmaster, just a concussion. But I still want him in that bed for the day. Too much movement might cause permanent damage.

"WHAT were you thinking young man? Rushing into a Warded room like that. And one being operated by a professional of all things." Said McGonigal. Her tone trying to convey as much disappointment as possible.

"But Professor, we were merely trying to talk to Mr. Hunter about his relation to Harry." Said Hermione, trying to defuse the situation, her stomach felt rather heavy now that she was in front of so many professors.

"I don't know how you learned of that Mrs. Granger. However, I would ask you not to badger our guest. He is doing a major and expensive service to the school and his past with the Potter family would upset him." The professor reasoned. "Also, there is the matter of your punishment."

"Punishment?" all three said.

"Yes, I suspect you do not know what might have happened should you have succeeded in disrupting Mr. Hunter in his work." Dumbledore looked grave as he looked off into the distance.

"The Whole ward scheme would have collapsed around the school and imploded inwards, not only leaving us defenseless but would have caused severe damage to the other students. It was only Mr. Hunters Precautions and professionalism, by setting up a ward to repel anyone with aggressive intentions from affecting him during the delicate parts of his work. Disaster was diverted however your actions nearly caused a catastrophe. As penance, I think a month without your broom and helping clean is in order." The three looked away but could not argue.

"As for his relation to Mr. Potter. Mr. Hunter has requested that you stay as far from him as possible. Preferably for your own good." Dumbledore then swept out of the room with the others in tow.

…. ….. ….

A Week later found Deric talking with a Clever little girl named Luna Lovegood about the interesting creatures he has seen. "The underwater elephant whale is not Magical per say but is still so large you have to wonder how it could have evolved without some sort of magical assistance." He intoned to the girl. Once he deciphered what Wackspurts were they got along swimmingly. They were currently sitting on a window sill on one of the towers, a set of yu-gi-oh classic cards before them. Deric was losing badly and he loved every minute of it.

"Excuse me, sir." A voice said to his left. Deric looked over and saw a group of three, two boys and a girl, looking towards him shyly. "We were interested in runes and wards and wanted to know if you have any tips for us?" Deric looked over at Luna and raised an eyebrow.

"They don't seem to have any wackspurts and I cast Mirror World." She said as she gave them a quick peek.

"Dame you got my monster. I loss, again." He slumped but then turned towards the students.

"Ill cover everything you need to know in class. All I can say is that there is no secret to success. Challenging work and determination will get you farther in life than any talent or tool. Learn some languages, get a job abroad and master it. Then the next. Hard Work. That is the key to success. I started off just gathering the supplies for a rune-master. Now I'm adjusting Hogwarts wards." The group of Hufflepuff looked dejected they could not take the effortless way out but at least they got a decent tip.

"Now have any of you met Luna before, She's a bit insane but that makes her so much more interesting. BTY Wakspurts are real but totally don't do what you think they do Luna, while the Krumplehorn is just a myth. Also worth its weight in gold. Now I must go fine toon that pregnancy ward. Someone turned it off a couple centuries back and since then the ward has not stopped one pregnancy."

"Deric Potter." Yelled a voice from down the hall. Deric stiffened and shadows seemed to grip his face. He looked down the hall and there was Harry Potter in all his Angry furry.

" I have not heard that name in a long time. That is not me anymore, and I forbid you from using it." Said Deric as he reached for his hat, shadowing his face further in the taxes style long hat. The other people in the hall were very confused but realized I had some relation to the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Where were you. Your brother and his wife were dead and you abandoned me to the care of the Dursleys. Where have you been all these years, why have you not contacted me?" Harry continued and for a few minutes, Deric stood and listened before he said.

"Are you done?" he said with venom. His opinion of the brat dropping with each syllable he said.

"What?" Harry asked. A little confused the man was not cowed. When he got angry most people tended to listen.

"Let me get one thing straight here. I HATE James Potter. With all capitals. The only reason I'm even indirectly helping you is that Severus asked me to. Your Father was a devilish little toe rag who had less common sense and more ego than a cockroach. I cast myself out of the family and cursed them in every breath while doing it because I hated your father so much. So tell me why I would take in a potter when I abandoned the name myself." Deric turned around to leave before "Expeliamus." A spell left Harry's wand. Indignation at the man for Daring to insult his dead parents. His parents were hero's and they deserved the utmost respect.

Without even looking behind him, Deric reached back and grabbed the spell out of thin air. Holding in in the palm of his hands. Irritated Deric turned around and said "Quick lesson on wards my young students." He looked towards the small group of puffs and one raven.

"Once you reach a certain level of warding under a master he will start to teach you the more aggressive forms of Warding. Only a master can teach this to you. No book or scroll will have this knowledge." Lifting his hand Deric threw the ball at Harry at breakneck speeds. Slamming it into the boy's chest. The spell flung him backward, head over Ketel before slamming him back into a wall. The boys Wand Flying towards Deric's hand. Deric pocketed the wand and smirked as he watched Potters two companions drag him away back into the infirmary.

"Does he always act like that?" I asked into the air as I walked back towards the small group of students. All their eyes were wide in amazement and their mouths were open in shock at my display of wandless magic. Even Luna, who was normally immune to such things, was shocked at the display. The look of admiration in their eyes was not all that unsatisfying either. Witches and Wizards gravitate to men or women of power. It was a subconscious need that they all felt.

"How did you do that?" Asked Luna. Puzzling over what just happened. As far as anyone knew he just grabbed the spell out of the air and threw it back. However, Luna's special eyes were able to discern a small silver barrier around the spell.

Amused Deric contemplated how to tell them. "What I essentially did was encase the spell in a small mobile ward and continued to add power to it. Once the spell was overpowered I just threw it back and dropped the ward. It is an extremely advanced technique and requires years of practice. Only a Master of the warding arts can teach it to you. It's also a quick way of knowing who is a master and who is just book smart. This knowledge is handed down from Master to a student and you will never find it in any book." I said as I conjured a visible ward for a show.

The students looked amazed and he was glad he could get them interested in Warding. Even if warding was only part of what he did on a day to day basis.

Wards were a branch of magic very different from Wizards wand school of thought. They took more work but produced far more varied and powerful result. Even in this school, you would only get a rudimentary understanding of them.

"Now will someone answer my question?"

"Um, no he's not normally that angry. Mabey if Little Malfoy is around but even then it's mostly words and not curses that get thrown. We don't really know him all that well. Were in Hufflepuff and Luna here's a Raven. You might get a better answer from a Gryffindor. Most people that try and get to know him from the other houses normally get pushed away by either That human textbook Hermione or that Pig Ron weaselly. She bores you to death and Ron's manners are so atrocious that most people won't interact with him. By extension, it became too much trouble to bother befriending the boy." One of the puffs says as she looks at him critically. Her hair was dark and shadowed a lot of her face and she gave off a distinct dark witch feel to her.

Luna took up the conversation from there. "I don't think I've ever seen him hang out with anyone outside of Gryffindor before. Even then one of other two is always with him. And when he's alone he gets a nasty Nargal infestation." The other three looks at her strongly so I took pity and transmitted.

"She means he seems confused and anxious when he is alone. Nangal's are a complex thing and whoever named them deserves a kick in the nad's for such a bad naming since. Then again most Wizards are terrible at naming. However anti-social and bigoted aggression aside he should still not have done that. Il be giving this wand to Snape before the day is out." I pocketed the wand.

"Is it true? Was James Potter really that bad?" Asked the Boy Huff.

"Yes," I said simply as I ruffled Luna's head. "From what I heard around the school he was kind of like the Weasley Twins. Except instead of his pranks being just annoying they were also borderline deadly. A number of his enemies found themselves with broken bones, strang and painful lesions or just plain pain curses. He got away with it too since our father at the time was on the board. I had to live with that for close to thirteen years and when swords started to seek me out from odd areas of the house, well I started to look for ways to get out of the family." I think I may have broken their little minds. After all, this was a lot to process. So I left them to their thoughts and went back to figuring out why on earth a headmaster would turn off a ward that was supposed to keep the students from getting pregnant accidentally?

….. …. ….

End of the Year feast.

The year went by with a lot more fan fare than most years. Some rather interesting revelations had been uncovered. First was the revelation that Deric Hunter had caught a spell from the boy-who-lived and threw it back, barehanded. The wand was returned the next day by Professor Snape and a very irate McGonigal. Gryffindor had lost so many points that day that the hourglass had gone all the way down to zero and potters reputation was even lower. If it was possible it would have hit the negative numbers. Suffice to say that harry potter was no one's favorite person. It was said that McGonigal's yelling was so loud that the house elves fled the wing, the Slytherins heard it in their dungeons and the acrumantula in the forest ran for cover. Yelling about the dishonor of attacking the back of an unarmed opponent were so loud that even the teachers stayed away for the day. (A day made even worse when Harry realized his Map was no longer working.)

The second bit of news was also a great but pleasant surprise. Turns out that since the wards were so mismanaged they required ten times the power necessary. When the wards were finished and power restores, Hogwarts saved a good fifteen percent of their budget from power alone. Unlike what people may think, Hogwarts does run on a magical grid and that is charged by usage. Like electricity, Raw magic does nothing, Its the changed and usable Magic that percolates through the school that makes all the enchantments permanent.

The announcement that a lot of the castle would be redeveloped next year was a relief to everyone. Especially the quidich players would get their brooms traded in for better models. A lot of clubs and departments would see a huge boost in funding.

The third and most shocking turn of events was the Capture and internment of one Petter fatigue. Dumbledore had been perusing the map and found him sequestered in the kitchens. He thought it was a mistake at first. He reached forward and touched the name, in order to see better, and was surprised to find a whole screen dedicated to the basic information of the individual. Such things like Hight, weight, health and also true form. Putting two and two together(with the answer filled in) Dumbledore sends Snape to chase down the rat. After a little fun, Snape called in the Aurors and took him away for questioning.

The Dementors tried to attack as soon as he was revealed but the wards held them all back. The ministry was surprised that Hogwarts was able to push the dementors back and tried to raise a stink about it but the backlash from the ministry trying to make Hogwarts weaker nearly got Fudge fired all on his own.

Especially since weaker wards would be expensive. People don't care about much. But they do care about money.

Slytherin won that year but most of the castle still was happy and left on good terms.

As for Deric he still had one more stop.

Number 4 privet drive.

The doorbell to number four Privet Drive rang in the late hours of the morning one summer. A demure man in a suit was standing at the front door. He was well built and handsome but had his hat down low as to not cause any undue attention. A loud bellow from within that sounded like "Booooyy" was heard by the man.

A lanky young man with wild hair opened the door. Harry Potter opened the door with a smile on his face. His face fell as soon as he saw the man on the porch was not his Godfather. "oh, it's you? What are you doing here and how did you ever find this place?" Dumbledore assured him that he was safe. That no magical' s could find him. Least of all this traitor.

Smirking at the boy he was about to say something when he heard some footsteps coming down the hall. "Who was at the door you blasted boy?" said a gruff and meaty voice. Vernon Dursley came into view and stopped to stare at a face he had not seen in over ten years.

Harry was all set to watch his bastard of an uncle yell at his other bastard of an uncle when what happened next floored him. "Daric, you old rascal. Where have you been all these years." The man honest to goodness smiled. Going from lumbering walrus to rotund jolly giant. "Come in, come in and take year shoes off. Don't want another of the peanut butter incidents." The man clasped his back as Vernon made his own tea for once.

"Good to see you, Vernon. Wish it were under more pleasant circumstances but a trip to see you and Petunia is always a treat." Deric said as Harry just stood in the halls like a doorknob, Mind in shock.

Deric walked into the nice kitchen and tasteful furnishings. While privet drive may look the same from outside it did not look the same inside.

Vernon poured the tea and sat down. "So, what brings you to our neck of the woods. Last time I saw you. You swore off England and said you would never return. Joining the Italian Family by what I heard." Vernon new very well about the mafia and was a sublime boss himself. Only a management position at the front company and he did decent work. Deric got him the job when many others were turning him away and money was quickly dwindling now with two mouths to feed.

"I left the family about have years ago to join the guild. It was a hard choice but not one I regret. I got dragged back into England when Snape asked me to do him a favor. I really didn't want to but I owed him. So I basically fixed his school for him and got to humiliate my brothers kid. Mabey a little petty but to be fair I was not actively trying to humiliate him."

"Ah, that no good brother, he got us stuck with his spawn for the last decade or so. We really don't like the boy. He's odd you see. Like one time when we had to remodel all the rooms because we found some harmful mold in them and we ask the freak where he wants to sleep. And what does he pick but the cupboard under the stairs? It was his favorite place to read you see, so he picked it at age ten until we got the mold out. I think it's what ruined his eyes." Said Vernon over the tea.

"I think the new term the rest of the world now calls them is Sheeple. For sheep people. Even in France where they got a decent sized population, they got more brains by the time they are five than any adult Sheeple from England. IT from England is basically a joke anyway. No common sense whatsoever. Also, why has he stuck with you anyway? I'm sure some family would have taken him in heavens knows they inbreed so much they may as well all be related."

"Something about a blood warg his mother cast or some such thing." Deric quirked an eyebrow and got puzzled by that.

"You mind if I look at it, want to make sure it isn't some BS their trying to pull, like the car incident." Vernon hated the car incident. "Go ahead just make it fast."

While Deric sipped his tea, he took a napkin and cast a subtle spell to copy down the ward details. Now Harry walked into the room and just stared at them till Vernon got annoyed at him again. "What are you doing boy, scram."

"Why are you letting him cast a spell? It could be trying to hurt me or something." And such is the logic of magical' s.

"Because unlike you and every one of your Sheeple Friends, He asked permission and I like him. Whereas with you I can barely look at you without being annoyed."

Deric slammed his head lightly against the solid wood of the table. Groaning. "Well, this is a right mess. I swear that Lady might have been better than her husband but I see even she fell victim to Sheeple Disorder." Turning to Vernon he sighed. Lamenting on exactly why he left. "It's like there is something in the water making them all dumber than a sack of bricks." Vernon and petunia always enjoyed it when I insulted the Magical's.

Just then Petunia walked into the room(groceries in hand), A loud thudding on the stairs indicating her son was walking up to his room. I always found reports on him to be worrying and that the boy might be dim-witted. But I was not going to share that.

Petunia smiled as we exchanged pleasantries. "So what are we talking about."

"The single-minded stupidity of your sister and then by extension the whole of IT England." He said as Petunia nodded in agreement as she took a seat. "Your husband told me that They tried to spin you some story about a blood ward. Now I might be rusty in Sumerian but I can still read this. You sister really screwed the pooch when she made this ward. I told her overconfidence would be her downfall but would she listen, nooo." I could tell Harry was still listening behind a wall and seething with anger at the fact I was insulting his parents. Well, he should get that chip off his shoulder. His parents were not good people just because they died by Voldemort's wand.

Harry stomped into the room and demanded I take it back, much to the annoyance of Petunia and Vernon. Having spent the better part of a decade in the most inhospitable places on earth did nothing for my temper as well.

"Listen you little shit, do you even know the first thing about blood wards?" I yelled, silencing him. He then went off on some clandestine spiel about how they were powered by his mother's love. "Not even close you ignorant sheep," I said to him, making him sputter out. "Blood wards do no such thing and if a mother's love for her son was all it took to save someone from that the AK then we would not have so many people using it. No, the love from your mother may have started the spell but do you really think that the price of the Spell is the love of a dead woman? No, it takes the price from the Living, the love from the living." I shouted as he backed up.

"They don't love me." Harry said and went on and on about how tragic his life was and so on. Before I shut him up with a look. The look I perfected while killing traitors.

"Vernon, If a spell, well let's say car costs five thousand pounds and the deposit is one thousand pounds, does it ever mean that you get four thousand pounds." Ah, Vernon got what I was getting at. Even if the magic part escaped him. "So, tell me, little potter, where does that love that is maintaining this ward coming from? Can't be your mother since she is long dead." I point to the other two and they cock their eyebrows and wait for me to explain. "The reason you two don't feel any love for your nephew is because all the love you would feel is being taken to the ward. So, any attachments and feelings you might have been dissolved as soon as they appear. To you, it might be like having a freeloading stranger live in your home and eat your food but can't get rid of him. No wonder you detest and hate him."

Harry looked stunned at the implications but also very untrustworthy of my analysis. I don't care however since this is an explanation for Petunia.

"Not to mention that the math in this spell is all wrong. I swear They think that a fifth-grade math education is all you will ever need in life. By my calculations, it is taking waaaay more love then necessary to power this ward. It's like using the latest generation generator to power your desk lamp, it's just overkill. Not to mention the detrimental effect it's having on you and your family."

"WHAT EFFECT?" They asked now more concerned than ever. Harry was not liking where this was going and slinked off to eavesdrop behind the door to be sneaky. He probably thought I was some death eater here to undermine his mother's oh so precious ward.

"Well as I said, it eats at the love that you hold. But you and Harry are not the only ones in the house, are you?" at this they realize what I am getting at and it takes me a few minutes to calm them down. "Yes, this is bad but do not panic. You son has been living in a house that has been trying to drain the love out of him for years. This is a very terrible thing and it might have stunted his mental growth as well as your own. You at least had the advantage of knowing what love is and can mimic it to your son well. But he is no doughty hopelessly confused. I can mitigate it but this does lead to why I came here."

After they calmed down I took out a pamphlet. "You remember that Boarding school I told you about?" Vernon nodded. He had planned to attend the Best boarding school in the country until life drew him away. But it was still a good school that had a lot of connections. He kept an ear to the ground about it and he felt like sending his son to such a place would be something a parent did.

"I know it can be a difficult choice and that he will be very resisted to it but he should go. I can guaranty him entry and with what they teach there he should be able to develop into a decent student. They have the best teachers (Extremely strict), excellent academics (Studies 24/7), and no gangs or trouble (Corporal punishment.)

Knowing their son was not the brightest made the decision easy for them. A little Persuasion may have helped as well.

"I'll send you two something in the mail to help with your own issue till then I have a decent solution. HARRY, stop eavesdropping like a common street rat and come in." Harry walked in, still seething (thinking I am tricking his relatives). "Since I know that James left you a small mountain of gold, instead of freeloading and them becoming irate, you will pay them rent. You get to keep to yourself in your room and do what you will, within reason, and the mental drain on them towards you switches form Good for nothing freeloader to Renting teenager. This should enable them to at least feel safe in their own home." Harry tried to protest but the prospect of freedom was too great. So, he agreed and they set a certain price. As soon as the deal was struck I could feel the wards shift. The love that was absorbed was not yet blocked but was at least filtered now. A small block was put in place that would keep the people in the house form instantly getting annoyed at Harry for every little thing.

They would still not like him but would be more tolerant. Vernon even realized that putting so many locks on a person's room was just too much. In his defense, the previous year Harry had threatened them with magic and so on until it was revealed that he could not actually do it. Blowing up his sister, who I also could not stand, would have also caused a rather big issue.

Using a bit of magic trickery, I wrapped it around the family. Harry would not be able to think of telling anyone about the deal. Petunia would get a sense of satisfaction from cooking, and Vernon would now start getting cravings for salads.

"Ok, now that that is settled, Vernon, let's get to a bar. I really need to be plastered." I said as Vernon wondered how stupid most They's needed to be to pay for things in gold coins? A few coins paid for each summer was worth what it took to get a new car.

Someone really should have noticed the issue before this but meddlers will meddle.

… .

Vernon ordered a nice scotch while I went for a sweet Fruit based cocktail. I know I am not a woman but I needed the pick me up. "Here is your scotch sire, and here is our Liquid candy sire." That was not the name of the drink, she was just being cheeky. Saluting her I downed the Picky Sprite and shook my head. I needed that.

"So you got jumped on your way out of that meeting?" Asked Vernon as I was telling him about my second day in England.

"Yeah, some Old Families took exception to me being back in England and a Potter. They jumped me and tried to kidnap me. But I am not a ward master for nothing. As your Boss can attest. I am quite feared in the underworld. Add in my temper and most families shake in their boots when they hear my name. However, these fools thought they could roughen me up. They "stunned" me took me to some room and then started to talk to me. The first rule of Villainy, never gloat." I now ordered another apple caramel blast cider and waited for my order. "However, they were fools so I was able to trap them myself. Long story short I got them to gamble everything they owned. From their homes and apartments to their titles and riches. And thanks to a little old key I have, it was binding. They lost. Badly." They made more small talk about how the tower Family that Vernon was part of getting some new active flame users. He had no problem with flame users and other forms of mysticism. Just wizards.

Vernon did not hate the supernatural. He hated the word Magic. Mostly due to one too many cruel and unusual pranks by James. Did no one ever wonder why James only had two friends? And that no one was surprised they could betray each other?

"With that gold, I can upgrade some things in the house. I know a fencer that can file them and sell them off for a lot of cash." Vernon was a good accountant and launderer. He would not let so much as a penny be unaccounted for and his family spoke highly of him. Heck if he were a wizard he would be smarter than everyone in the ministry combined.

"Good luck to you man, I got more gold off those fools then I will ever need. I mainly just work in the Guild since it's fun and the people are awesome. You should see the shit that adventurers get up to with one another. Just last week we had a guy that was pranked by having him suspended from the ceiling vial wires and gaged. We left him there for a few hours to learn not to leave his door open at night. Then there are the annoying factors. Like having to deal with governments that think they're all-powerful. Especially the Americans, just cause they go more superheroes Like Superman and Batman then anyone else, they think that they can do whatever they want. Well, at least their shadow organizations do. You have no idea how many deals got busted because a shadow organization form America tried to backstab up. And they're only a minor customer to us."

"A toast to incompetent Agents, may they rot in the worst sort of hell," said Vernon. We clinked glasses and downed our drinks.


End file.
